Just a mile to the
west of those studios is a town called Studio City. The movie studio that
gave the town its name is now called CBS Studio Center, but its
history goes back much further.

The
38-acre studio began back around 1928 as Keystone
Studios, by none other than MackSennett, the master of silent movie
comedies. Sennett earned the nickname "the King ofComedy"
with his slapstick shenanigans, custard pie fights, and crazed car chases.

He had been shooting
his slapstick comedies in the Glendale and Silverlake areas since 1912,
but he outgrew those locations and he moved his operations to the San Fernando
Valley, where he built Keystone Studios. It opened in May of 1928.

Sennett cranked out
over a hundred films in a single year, with stars such as Fatty Arbuckle,W.C. Fields,
Stan Laurel,
Harold Lloyd
and his trademark Keystone Kops.

Mack
Sennett was also the first man to put young Charlie Chaplin
to work in silent films, and he gave Bing Crosby
his break in musicals in 1929. Carole Lombard
also did her first work on this Studio
City lot.

In the mid-1930's,
Mack Sennett's fortune's declined (due to stock market losses) and his
movie lot became home to first Mascot and then Monogram Studios,
which united to form the Republic Pictures
movie studio. (You may remember Republic's eagle logo.)

Despite
a few "Premiere " films such as John Ford's
"The Quiet Man" & "Rio Lobo"
or Orson Welles'
"Macbeth," for the most part Republic Studios was the
home of the B-movie. The studio routinely ground out cheap melodramas,
around the clock, most shot outdoors in just five or six days per picture,
on a budget of about $50,000 per film.
Republic specialized in Westerns, including singing cowboys Gene Autry& Roy Rogers,
and "The Three Mesquiteers" series, which featured
John Wayne in the early
episodes.

B-Movie studios had
a stigma all their own, though, and it was hard for actors who accepted
work at Republic or Monogram to get a break later with the major studios.
As a result, it was hard to convince top notch actors to work for Republic
or Monogram. Republic Pictures survived until 1962 as a rental facility.
But Gene, Roy and the Duke had all gone by 1951.

After
the era of the B-movie came to an end, CBS Television took over in 1963.
Classic westerns such as "Gunsmoke" & "The
Wild Wild West" were shot here, and so was "Gilligan's
Island" - in fact, its familiar lagoon was still there just a
few years ago.

From
the 70's until 1992, its 22 sound stages were home to Mary Tyler
Moore's M-T-M
Enterprises, where such popular sitcoms
as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart
Show," "Rhoda," "Phyllis," "WKRP
in Cincinnati," were made, as well as award-winning dramas including
"Lou Grant," "Hill Street Blues,"
"St. Elsewhere," "Falcon Crest"
and "Remington Steele."

Today
it is called the CBS Studio Center,
and the 40-acre studio is still one of
the busiest studios in town. There are probably more TV sitcoms taped here
than at any other studio. Ironically, very few of them are broadcast on
the CBS network. Shows
recently shot at the studio include "Will & Grace,"
"That 70's Show," "Yes Dear," "According
to Jim," "Less Than Perfect," "Malcolm
in the Middle," "Grounded For Life," "Good
Morning Miami," "Spin City," "Just Shoot
Me," "The Weber Show," "Titus,"
"3rd Rock From the Sun," and the soap opera "Passions."

They filmed nine
seasons of "Seinfeld" on Stage 9 (except for the first
four episodes, which were shot at Ren-Mar).

They also still shoot
feature films here, including "Father of the Bride" (with Steve
Martin) and "Addams Family Values."

And remember the
fictitious 'Sunrise Studios' where "Stab 3" was being filmed
in the horror film "Scream 3"? Well, 'Sunrise Studios'
was actually none other than CBS Studio Center.

Alas, this studio
does not offer a public tour, and it isn't open to the public. If you want
to go inside the studio as a member of a studio audience, though, give
"Audiences Unlimited"
a call and ask for tickets to the shows mentioned here, or for any sitcom
being taped live at CBS Studio Center.

But there is one
more way to see the inside of the Studio. Every 4th of July
9since 1998), Studio City holds its annual "Fourth
of July Fireworks Festival" at the
studio, and you're free to visit the Studio during the festival and check
out the historic buildings. As of 2008, tickets were $20, and you can buy
them on the city's website at studiocitychamber.com.

( Quite
a few stars live in Studio City. Gene Autry
died at his home there in late 1998, and Roddy McDowall
died one day later, at his own home in Studio City.
Other stars who live (or lived)
there include George Clooney,William Shatner,
Michael ("Kramer") Richards,Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Regis Philbin,Alex Trebek,Ed Asner,Alyssa Milano,Jackson Browne,
Dana Andrews,
Max Baer Jr.,Erik Estrada,Yvonne De Carloand Susan
Hayward. )

Getting
there:
To reach the CBS Studio Center from Hollywood, take the Hollywood
(101) Freeway north to the Ventura Boulevard offramp, and follow Ventura
Boulevard northwest (about a mile and a half) to Radford Avenue (just before
you reach Laurel Canyon Blvd.). Turn right (north) on Radford Avenue, and
the studio will be on your right (east) side.

[For
more information on this subject, you can access the studio's official
website at http://www.cbssc.com.]

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